When the consistency and validity of heading expressions for a system's GUI (graphical user interface) are to be evaluated, for instance, to check whether individual screens have standardized heading expressions and use valid heading expressions, it is preferable that heading expressions used in all screens targeted for evaluation be checked in consideration of their hierarchical relationship to extract any inconsistent portions. Therefore, if this evaluation is performed manually, increased workload is imposed on an evaluator. Further, the evaluator may fail, for instance, to detect some problems because it is difficult to specify the hierarchical levels of heading expressions. Consequently, the result of evaluation is likely to vary from one evaluator to another.
For example, a first related art is a technology related to a GUI automatic evaluation device that is described in Patent Document 1. The GUI automatic evaluation device inputs screen design guide data, stores the input guide data as formal rules, prepares GUI information that includes window-specific attribute information and attribute values representing GUI object data of an evaluation target system, compares the prepared GUI information against the stored rules, and outputs the window-specific result of comparison to indicate compliance with the rules. Patent Document 1 also describes means for generating GUI information, for instance, from product specifications, sources, and GUI building tools.
A second related art is a technology related to a testing device that is described in Patent Document 2. The testing device is capable of conducting a test in which a predetermined operating procedure is automatically performed. The testing device uses an operation database to store a user sequence, which is to be designated by a user at the time of testing, and a complementary sequence which ensures that the user sequence is executed in a specified manner, and verifies the status of a GUI portion when the user sequence is executed in the specified manner. The testing device executes the user sequence whenever it can be executed. However, when the user sequence cannot be executed, the testing device retrieves an appropriate complementary sequence, executes the retrieved complementary sequence, and then executes the user sequence.
A third related art is a technology related to a web screen creation tool and terminology check tool described in Patent Document 3. These tools check a web screen source file by using terminology pre-registered for verifying homonyms, declensional Kana endings, and synonyms which are prone to error when they are written. When any pre-registered term is detected within a web screen to be evaluated, these tools display a list of possible corrections for the detected term.